Springville company moving to Wisconsin

SPRINGVILLE — Some 240 jobs at Nature's Way will disappear in the next two years as the company transitions to its new headquarters in Green Bay, Wis., general manager Rory Mahony said Monday.

The move out of Springville started quietly about nine months ago for the company owned by Schwabe North America, a holding company of Schwabe Germany, when supplement and personal-care subsidiary Abkit Inc. moved to Green Bay as Schwabe began relocating its companies to Wisconsin.

Schwabe also bought dietary-supplement and natural-medicine manufacturer Enzymatic Therapy in October 2008 and opened a distribution facility in Green Bay.

The distribution element of Nature's Way Products Inc. is scheduled to move out of Springville early next year, Mahony said.

"Eventually, (all of Nature's Way) will move to Green Bay," he said.

That includes the manufacturing of Nature's Way products, which has been done at the Springville facility. The move will unite all of the companies under the Schwabe North America umbrella and make it easier to place and fill orders, Mahony said.

Jonathan T. Reid, legal counsel for Nature's Way, said employees at the Springville plant "are sad to see the company go," and some "question the … logic of transferring the company from the Wasatch Front, a virtual Silicon Valley of natural supplement products, to a Midwestern industrial locale."

"The company employs many people who have worked for decades to build the value of the company," Reid said in an e-mail to the Deseret News. "It's unfortunate that the owners seemed to place so little value on the sacrifices of those loyal employees."

Mahony said "very fair and reasonable" retention and severance packages for employees are in place.

A small Utah facility will remain with about 30 employees who work in marketing, customer service and other support roles. The company hasn't yet determined where to locate that facility, Mahony said.

About 170 jobs will be created at the Green Bay facility, but not all employees at the Springville plant will be offered jobs there, he said.

In the meantime, the company will continue to hire locally as the need arises, Mahony said.

e-mail: rodger@desnews.com